Why do i do this?

[gjet68]

Hello. My name is Gwen and I am new here to the ADBB. And new to Atkins WOE. I just wanted to admit that I am addicted to food. I really came to realize it this past two weeks. I had tried the SB WOE and lost 9 lbs and was doing really good until my weight stalled and I became discouraged and caved in and ate some things that I shouldnt. I dont know WHY I do it other than I am bored or depressed. I seem to eat more starting at 3 p.m and on up till bedtime. Especially when I am watching Television. I know I need to find some other activity to keep myself occupied where I dont think about food. I had a box of cereal (Fruity Pebbles, my favorite) and within 24 hours I had eaten the whole box. Yesterday I ate a whole package of Cream Cheese, spread it on my hamburger patties or pork chops and ate it. I LOVE cheese, I will eat it all the time if I can. I think I have realized that I sometimes eat because I Love the taste of the food. Not because I am hungry. How do I get past this? How can I stop doing this so I dont sabotage my Weight Loss efforts here? What is different this time than before is that I got back up this morning determined to begin Atkins Induction with a clean start. Whereas before I would have just said: "Well, you failed once again..so why bother". I think another thing is my youngest son who is 15 and fit as a fiddle keeps me accountable, he asks me every little bit if Im still on my diet or if Im eating something Im not suppose to. I have been promising him for over a year Id take him to a concert, and we have the tickets to see his favorite band, it is suppose to be the 21st of August, I had hoped to drop a few lbs by then and make him proud of me. That is one thing I think that keeps me focused. I realize now that this is an addiction just as ciggarettes or alcohol are to some ppl. Just wanted to post this so I had somewhere to be accountable.

Gwen

[Razzle39]

Re: Why do i do this?

Hi Gwen
Your post is so honest and probably relative to many of us here at ADBB. First of all ..A CONCERT..AWESOME! What a great memory this will be for your son of his cool mom. At least you are out there doing things, living life, and being a great mom. Dont beat yourself up so much.
I am also an emotional eater. I came home once with a bag of Doritoes and my son asked, " Uh Oh what did Dad do now?" I laughed and asked why he was asking and he said, " You always eat Doritoes when you are in a fight with Dad." It stopped me in my tracks. Huh? DO I? I started paying attention and it was true. The more that stress was afflicting my life the more I shoved in the food. Any food that was available.
The 'moment of truth' came when my daughter asked me "who ate those malt vinegar potato chips?"
"Oh I had some. Arent they disgusting?"
My daughter looked at me and replied, " If they are so disgusting why did you eat 3/4 of the bag?" Hmmmm.....moment of truth. I started Atkins the next day on July 28,2008. I have lost 5 pounds.
Now as for the eating just to eat thing.....I have a thought for you. My mother once told me that it takes three consecutive days to make something a habit and ten consecutive days to break it. She probably heard this on Oprah...we love her and believe everything she tells us. So knowing this wonderful peice of information I have started re-training my mind. Everytime I want to eat something due to a stress in my life, I exercise instead . I will do 50 squatz...50 jumping jacks...5 minutes jump rope. Take the dog for a walk (He is loosing too) or do the ab/kickboxing/squat routine I have made up for myself. Then I have a glass of water and busy my mind with something else. A Book, playing with my kids, watching TV. If that nagging voice comes into my head again that is telling myself to get up and have a snack....I do it again. I am re-training myself to substitute food with exercise. I dont know if it will work for you but I think its worth a try
Take care and good Luck! I look forward to hearing about your progress!

[lazy daydreamer]

Re: Why do i do this?

razzle- i've tried exercising whenever I want to eat but find that laziness somehow wins me over, so I resort to eating. One of the main problems I have is that I tend to eat much much much more when I'm at home. I'm pretty sure that it's bored/ stress eating, but its so hard to control. As with the thing you said about your mom, its great that your family is so supportive I'm currently living alone, and after going through a rough breakup I realise that I'm resorting to emotional eating subconsciously! Now is really the time to break those bad habits!
Gwen- I find myself continuing to eat things that taste horrible too, and pack of dorritos is really nothing lol! It's actually kinda freaky, sometimes I can go for dinner with friends, eat normally, and have a second dinner when I get home. I hate going to the gym alone, even when it's so close by. I totally feel you when I read about our cheese addiction! I even took this opportunity to try the smelly cheeses that I never used to eat!
Anyway, good luck to you both, it was cool to know that I'm not alone!! It kinda sucks that I'm not losing any weight, I should really work on exercising more and cutting down the the excess calories...boohoo.

[ssMarilyn]

Re: Why do i do this?

I tend to be an emotional eater as well. I read something in a magazine once that said if you're hungry from the neck down, it's real, but if you're just hungry from the neck up, it's emotional. Now I ask myself if I'm just hungry from the neck up when I have the urge to grab a sweet. And hey, isn't cream cheese okay in moderation? 1 tbsp - Carbs: 0.4g